A preliminary study on the birds of Thane Creek, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Shorebirds also known as waders comprise several adaptations, which enable them to forage on exposed mudflats. The population of birds in any ecosystem shows the environmental quality of the area, pollution level, security and availability of food and habitat. Thane Creek located in Mumbai is one of the unique mangrove ecosystems, maintaining a good population of sediment-dwelling organisms that support a myriad of migratory and non-migratory bird populations. Bird surveys were carried out using the point count method across two different locations at Thane Creek. In total 95 species of birds were recorded during the study and distinguished as per the pattern of their foraging. A healthy diversity of bird species observed indicates the high productivity of the creek.

Keywords

• Avifauna
• Thane Creek
• mudflats
• productivity
• mangroves
• ecosystem